Quench not the Spirit

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“1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. 12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. 14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. 16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19 Quench not the Spirit. 20 Despise not prophesyings. 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 25 Brethren, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28

MQ Comment:
I love when a sermon makes me convicted. (And he didn’t need to yell or scream at all, he just preached the word: that’s the way it’s done.) I need to do what the good preacher says, I need to do an inventory of where I’m at and make sure I haven’t quenched the Spirit without even noticing it.

Regarding the church at large, I’m more pessimistic. If you step off the right path and get lost, you can’t make any forward progress again until you first retrace your steps and return back to the very place where you went astray. Only after returning to that point can you re-start. The church must go backwards before it can go forwards. There will be no general church revival without first a return to the King James Bible!

I’ve got that Book, praise God! But having that Book is not enough if we only hear it and never do it. Let’s hear the reproofs of instruction and repent of dullness and complacency. The Spirit of God still has mighty saving power, and I need that not just for eternity – but right now. Don’t you? Let’s fear God, repent, weep, cleanse ourselves of carnality and worldliness, yield our hearts to the Spirit’s work of sanctification, trust his promises of cleansing, forgiveness, a sound mind, and wait upon his power and love to move again in our lives afresh. Let’s confess those “sins that don’t matter” that we’ve gotten used to when we shouldn’t have. Let’s make certain our fellowship walking with Christ. And having done so, let’s have full confidence and faith in his unfailing forgiveness and grace. This will lead to our own revival, our own boldness in Christ, our own separation, our own faithful witness.

The world has adopted a perverse modern “culture” that is sick and depraved and confused – and it cannot be reformed – it can only be rejected. The drive of the modern culture is “get together” – unifying everything dissimilar – nationally, religiously, musically, racially, conjugally – mixed and mashed together into one adulterated, perverted, hive-mind amalgam. That’s the spirit of this age and we must do the opposite. Revival is enough if that the people of God are fortified to make an irreconcilable break from the syncretist culture of mixture, unity, and tolerance, and that we instead live apart righteously as true saved Christians and boldly testify his words of judgment (AV1611) against this world. That’s not the kind of “revival” most Christians want anything to do with – they instinctively know that it’s the kind of revival that’s apt to get us killed!